Page 90 of The Defender

“False. Forty-eight hours is the limit for adhering to girl code. Besides, I didn’t have the chance to tell you earlier. We were with Scarlett, and she doesn’t know yet.”

I looked around, paranoid Scarlett could hear us even though she and Asher had left for the airport an hour ago.

It was Sunday night, aka our last night in Budapest. It was a short trip since the guys wanted time to recover before the Blackcastle gala in a few days. Everyone had booked different return flights to London, and besides Vincent and Noah, Carina and I were the last to leave.

We were currently waiting for our cab in the villa’s foyer, but I was starting to regret telling her about the kiss without other distractions around. When she was bored, Carina hyperfixated on anything in her vicinity. Right now, that was me and my confession.

“I doubt anyone will be shocked, including Scar. You and Vincent have had…vibesfor a while,” she said delicately.

My cheeks heated. “We havenot.”

“Um, yes, you have. You wouldn’t have run out of a nightclub to eat pizza and kiss in the rain if there hadn’t been anything building up to that.”

She had a point.

I glanced at the staircase. The last time I’d seen him, Vincent was packing in his room. Carina had been with me, so we hadn’t exchanged more than a “goodbye” and “see you back in London.”

Last night’s kiss had ended there. When we returned to the villa, we’d been shocked to find half our friends had beat us there. Apparently, they’d tired of the club and, since they couldn’t find Vincent or get ahold of him, they’d come back early.

They made it impossible for us to sneak off together, and when I woke up that morning, the guys had already “kidnapped” Vincent and taken him out for a boys’ day in town. Scarlett, Tamara, Carina, and I spent most of the afternoon hanging out at the indoor pool and watching movies, but that meant I couldn’t confide in Carina until now. The information had threatened to spill out all day.

“Does this mean you guys are dating now? Do I need to resign myself to being the fifth wheel for the foreseeable future?” she joked.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “We didn’t have ‘the talk’ yet.”

Part of me was afraid to go there. The kiss had been so perfect. What if we ruined it by making things serious? What if he’d woken up that morning and regretted it? Unlikely, but possible.

I loathed myself for even thinking that way. I normally wasn’t so insecure, but it was so much scarier to open up to someone when I actually cared about them.

“What about you?” I pivoted the conversation to Carina. “What happened with the guy you were dancing with?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. We danced. I left. That’s it.”

I arched an eyebrow at her unusual terseness before I caught a flash of movement from the corner of my eye. A second later, Noah walked into the foyer, dressed in black sweats with a duffel slung over his shoulder. His dark blond hair was damp from the shower.

“Hey,” I said brightly. “Are you headed for the airport?”

He nodded, his expression wary. We hadn’t talked since Vincent interrupted us at the club, and I wondered whether they’d discussed what happened during their boys’ day.

“Do you want to come with us? Our cab’s already on the way, and we have room,” I offered. “It’s taking forever to get a car tonight.”

Noah flicked a quick glance at Carina, whose eyes were glued to her phone like it was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen.

“Sure. If you don’t mind,” he said quietly.

“Not at all.”

I liked Noah a lot. He was reserved, but he had a solid, self-assured presence that I found comforting. He was the type of guy I’d trust to lead us to safety if we were ever caught in a zombie apocalypse or something.

However, his arrival meant my conversation with Carina had to be put on pause. Our cab arrived a few minutes later, and the ride was silent until I attempted to make conversation.

“Are you going home for the rest of the break?” I asked.

Noah gave a curt nod. “My mother took Evie back to North Carolina already. I have to stay in London until after the gala, but I’m flying home straight after.”

“I can’t believe they’re making you participate in the auction. People are going to go wild.”

He grimaced, discomfort scrawled all over his face.